Placebo Hearts Chapter 2: Friends.

Author's Note: Hello, everybody! :D Here's chapter two of my first mini-novel! Chapter one is here in case ya missed it. ;) http://www.youngwriterssociety.com/work.php?id=109331

Chapter 2: Friends.

"K.C! Nice of you to show up." Chris wore that same smug grin that always appeared on his face when he was about to blast me for something. It was also the same expression that made me want to have a go at smacking him into next week...every time. I laid down upon the old bench under the oak tree that, for whatever reason, was yet another sacred piece of Brimmley Academy's illustrious history. The copper-colored finish was mottled with what seemed to be an innumerable array of dingy, blue-green specks.

"Look, Chris," I began "It's almost the second semester. You really don't have to keep stringing me along like this. I am my own person and just because you feel the need to be exceptional doesn't mean tha-"

"Stop, K.C," he interrupted in a tone somewhere in between anger and pity "You know why I'm pushing you. We both know that. I suggest you clean up your act here, or I'll have to call mom." My brother always employed this empty threat when he wanted me to listen to him. Over the years, it had become nothing more than an unloaded pistol. Even so, I could not dispute the irrefutable truth that this threat carried much more weight now than it ever had before. I brushed myself off and stood up from the cold, grimy bench before extending a hand to my brother. "C'mon, buddy," I smiled "No hard feelings. I was just messin' with ya. Put her there!" Chris's brown eyes burned with neurotic satisfaction. His frustrated glare gave way to the same smug grin he had worn before as he reached out to acknowledge my surrender.

"Well I'm glad you see it my way, K.C," he grinned, "Dad would be proud." Just as our hands met, I pulled Chris in towards me and dealt him a fierce bitch-slap across the face. Every fiber of my being roared to life with unbridled amusement as Chris stumbled back and onto the ground.

"Hey!" yelled my brother as he began to rub his reddened cheek "What the hell was that for?

"Well," I began in my best Morgan Freeman voice, "This is the price one must pay for attempting to corral a Siberian Tiger."

"A bitch-slap to the face?"

"Yes. Consider yourself lucky that tigers hunt alone." Chris discretely wiped his eyes as he tried to conceal the beginnings of fresh tears from passers-by.

"K.C," he groaned, his angry tone melting into a pitiful whine "You're the only person douchey enough to call yourself a Siberian tiger." I pulled at my bow tie and scanned the area for witnesses to my act of rebellion. Why it was not socially acceptable for the older brother to put his little brother in his place every now and then I had never grasped. I put on my backpack and grabbed Chris's from the ground. I could't help but notice that it was significantly heavier than mine.

"Here, man," I grumbled as I threw the khaki Jansport onto my brother's lap. "Let's get outta here. You were the one who wanted to take a walk in the park today." Just as Chris began to brush himself off, a horrible creature emerged from the quad like the slimy tentacles of the Kraken from a deathly abyss. It was Jamie Porifero, Chris's lab partner since day one, and the subject of every single one of his not-so-secretive diary entries. The burning glint of blind affection which took refuge in my brother's eyes was enough to make me want to vomit. Even after five months of attending Brimmley, I had not yet developed an immunity to her hot pink knit beret and her candy-patterned stockings. Not to mention the pink and purple polka dot bow tie she always wore. At least mine was solid green. I also had more necessity for mine since it was the only thing that could really help people to differentiate between Chris and I...other than my magnificent hair. Jamie Porifero was a walking uniform violation and Chris never once called her out on it like he did me. All of a sudden, I wished that I hadn't bitch-slapped him...at least not so hard. As Jamie skipped carelessly over to my brother and I, her long, blonde, purple-streaked pigtails bounced aimlessly about her head. I took a deep breath and composed myself for the world's most annoying roller coaster ride ever.

"Hiya, Chrissy!" she shrieked "Happy Friday, Friday-Flyday, Friday's your's and Friday's my day!" Chris's expression beamed to life as he leaped up from the ground to complete their sadistic end-of-the-week ritual. He seemed to have forgotten all about the bright red hand print I had left on his right cheek.

"Hiya, Jamie!" he ejected "Happy Friday, Friday-Flyday, always yours and also my way!" I must have gagged a little right then because both of them turned to look at me before engaging in a collaborative fit of inharmonious laughter. The girl's hazel eyes widened with an unhealthy curiosity at the sight of my bow tie. No matter how many times I had told her in the past, she would always ask the same damn question: "Where'd ya get that?" There was a time when I had hoped that she would someday cease to ask that dreaded question but that day never came...ever.

"I told you, Jamie," I grumbled "I don't really know where it came from. Mom got it in the mail one day." Even after hearing this anti-climactic response for the one millionth time, Jamie looked as if she was ready to burst with excitement at having made a groundbreaking world discovery. She adjusted her candy-pink rectangle frame glasses in order to get a better look at the specimen in question. All the while, Chris stared longingly at her in an infatuated stupor. Once again, I felt like I was going to vomit. I had to make a move to rescue whatever sanity I had left from a lollipop-smelling death at the hands of Jamie Porifero.

"Hey look, Jamie," I chuckled nervously "Me and Chris sorta have to go do something right now, so we'll see you sometime later." My brother started abruptly from his love-stricken daze and frowned hard at me. He put on his backpack and turned to look at Jamie again, who seemed to be on the very edge of tears.

"Oh don't worry, Lollipop," he consoled her, "We were just gonna take a walk in the park is all. I know I speak for both of us when I say that we'd love to have you come along." I had to fight with every last bit of my resolve to keep myself from facepalming. As much as I detested their sick little games, I couldn't help but feel sorry for my little brother. Here he was, going head over heels for a girl who was a living contradiction of everything he stood for. Then again, he was always like that; he was always confused.

----

As the three of us walked through the Brimmley Botanical Gardens, the tulips and camellias seemed to dance in melancholy unison in the cool March breeze. The distant roar of one of the garden waterfalls could be heard amongst the light chirping of the Brimmley Sparrows. Even I had to admit that the Botanical Gardens were unlike any other place in the world. Here at this academy, where young minds were forcibly molded into the finest (and most boring) professional minds the nation has to offer, one such as myself could find a little slice of freedom within the gates of those magnificent gardens. In all my time at Brimmley, I could not fathom how the G.W. Brimmley Library and the Old Oak Tree were hailed as sacred academy treasures while these botanical gardens were simply referred to as "the park." I closed my eyes and imagined that I was a sparrow among the trees, hopping restlessly from branch to branch in search of some unattainable gift which could not be described by mere words. Upon opening them, I caught sight of three young blue jays sitting in a high up nest. The smallest one seemed to be calling for their mother. The sight of the mother blue jay returning to the nest with a mouth full of small plants made me think of something, or rather someone, who had left a lasting impression on me. It made me think of the girl I had met just earlier that day; it made me think of Abby.

"Heeeeeey, K.C!" yelled Jamie as she grabbed onto my backpack like a parasite would grab onto its host cell "Whatcha thinkin' about?" I was surprised to find that Jamie's grasp prevented me from walking any further.

"Nothing," I sighed "Just looking at the birds is all." The pig-tailed girl released me from her jaws of death before latching onto Chris, who we both could tell had been eagerly awaiting his turn to be infected. My brother let out a light chuckle before looking back at her.

"Hiya, Muffindrop!" he ejected "Friday's treating us well this week." Once again, I had to use every last bit of my resolve to keep from facepalming.

"You betcha, Puddingstomp!", replied Jamie. The two of them let out a deafening laughter for a good five minutes before Jamie finally turned to look at me.

"K.C," she inquired in a tone of feigned bashfulness "Could you carry Chris's bag so I can ride on his back?" Without even looking at my brother, I knew that this was a matter of two against one.

"Sure," I sighed "Just until we get to the first waterfall." Chris swung his backpack off of his back, careful to see that Jamie was out of its way. His smug grin had finally returned as he tossed the bag of bricks onto the ground in front of me. I gritted my teeth and mumbled a few F-you's to Chris before throwing his backpack over my shoulder. Before I could say "Your welcome.", Jamie was already on top of Chris's back.

"Thanks, Fun-dip," she smiled "It's a much better view from up here." No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake the feeling that neither Chris nor Jamie was really seeing anything at all.

As we reached the first waterfall, the sun had begun to set over the Brimmley Botanical Gardens. I could feel the fall's cool spray settle calmly against my face. Every part of me wanted to relieve myself of the heavy load of both of our backpacks, but I knew that we would have to head back very shortly if we wanted to get to room 237 before sundown. I really didn't care much about what Mrs. Leland or whoever might do to us if we missed curfew again, but seeing Chris and Jamie so happy together was starting to make me feel even sicker than before. Just as I was about to tell them that it was time to start heading back, I heard Chris say something to Jamie that made me want to laugh and cry at the very same time.

"Jamie," he began in a nervous whisper "I love you." Before either of us could process what Chris had just said, Jamie leaped off of his shoulders and tumbled backwards onto her ass. The sight of the walking candy shop hitting the dirty ground was surprisingly amusing to me. Really amusing. My brother had not moved a muscle and I'm not even sure he could have if he tried. Jamie stood up and brushed the dirt off of her coat before speaking in a tone that I, nor my brother for that matter, had ever known she had.

"Listen, Christopher," she began dryly, "I love you too. You're a great friend to me and that's why I love you. You've always been a really great friend." Before Chris could turn to face her, Jamie had already begun a full sprint back down the garden trail. I let out a nervous laugh in an attempt to dissipate the awkwardness. Fresh guilt had welled up in my consciousness for the fact that I knew some crazy shit was going to happen if we took Jamie Porifero along with us on our walk and had not fought harder to prevent her from coming.

"It's alright, buddy," I coaxed him "She's a nut anyways." It was not until Chris responded that I realized that this probably wasn't the best way to comfort him. I could tell from the way he spoke that my brother was struggling to hold back his tears.

"K.C," he whispered sadly "Jamie's one of a kind. She's a hundred and ten stories of one hundred percent ten-speed terror like bam...like straight out the grease." I wanted to laugh at Chris for having quoted Adventure Time in his description of his feelings for Jamie, but the way every word seemed to draw him deeper and deeper into the abyss of sadness kept me from doing so. Not to mention that Adventure Time is a totally bad-ass show. Before turning to face the path where Jamie had left him so hopelessly alone, Chris collapsed upon the very spot where his Candyland princess had fallen just a few short minutes ago. By now, it had become dark and the golden asses of the fireflies provided the only light by which to make our way back to the Garden Gates. Chris raised a single hand to his right cheek and began to rub the spot where I had slapped him earlier. I had never felt so remorseful for having used physical violence against my brother as I did then. Even so, I could not bring myself to say anything to him, much less to make an apology. "She didn't even ask what happened," he cried "She didn't even ask."

All I could do was stand there in front of the still-crashing waterfall and wait for my brother's very own waterfalls to stop flowing. I set our backpacks down on the ground in between us and took a seat on the damp and dirty garden floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a lone blue jay perched upon a high branch, staring purposefully at my brother and I through two small, glowing pools of verdant luminescence. When I stood up and turned to look at the blue-feathered observer, the bird had gone. "You know what, Chris?" I began tenderly "I'm sorry. She'll come around...she'll come around."

To Be Continued.